Hi, there are more and more BFG casual games showing up on Steam, even relatively new ones like "Mystery Case Files: Black Veil." Does anyone know if the Steam versions are up to date like the ones sold on the BFG website? If BFG has patches for the games, will the Steam versions get them too? I'm asking because I have a suspicion that the Steam versions are like the disc versions sold on Amazon. Those discs are stand-alone games that don't have BFG DRM, but they are unpatched, day-one versions of the games. So I get the feeling BFG would only patch the games sold on their site, because that would be less work for them. Are the Steam versions this way too?

I've been buying BFG games only the BFG site the past few years, but lately have been tempted to buy from Steam, which offers refunds if you play the game less than 2 hours within 2 weeks. Compare that to BFG which only lets you trial a game for one hour, and you have to sign up for membership with monthly fee.

While Steam generally auto-updates its games, are you sure all the ones from BFG are updated the same way? As far as I know, Steam only updates them if the developer/publisher offers the updates. BFG has its own online store, which is in direct competition to Steam, and it would almost certainly prefers you buy from BFG store. So it might not be too eager to benefit the competitor.

While you can buy from BFG store without membership, its prices are always the undiscounted SRP. Steam, however, offers discounts frequently. Right now, Black Veil Collector's Edition is only $9.99 on Steam, cheaper than on BFG store even if you are a member.

While you can buy from BFG store without membership, its prices are always the undiscounted SRP. Steam, however, offers discounts frequently. Right now, Black Veil Collector's Edition is only $9.99 on Steam, cheaper than on BFG store even if you are a member.

to GameBoomers.

There are Big Fish game sales that include non-members as well - you just have to watch for them. They even have sales for non-members where you can get a Collector's Edition for $6.99. Today they happen to have a sale for club members only, but many of the sales include non-club members.

Then there is the question of whether Steam is the more "future proof" than other stores. By that, I mean Steam is less likely to go out of business for whatever reason. BFG, on the other hand, has shown some worrying signs. It used to make its games, then it stopped. It used to have general forum board, but it was removed, leaving only individual game forums. But more troubling is that I think casual games, especially the HOPAs that seem to dominate the store, have run their course and are no longer innovative and creative. Every HOPA I've played recently has been the same old same old, and I rarely finished them. The genre may be popular 7-15 years ago. But mobile games, indie PC games, free-to-play games, etc., have all dominated in the last few years. And the BFG store offers none of those. That makes me less confident about BFG's future. Back to my main point, if BFG were to go out of business, I don't know what would happen to the games I bought there. But if I buy BFG games on Steam, at least I know they will be quite safe there, as long as Steam stays in business.

One of the more ingenious hidden object games I've played recently is an indie PC game called "Hidden Folks," available on Steam. It has very fetching black-and-white high-resolution hand-drawn graphics that is a joy to see and fun to play. It is such a breath of fresh air compared to the stale offerings at BFG. Now why can't the BFG store carry a game like this?

It all depends on whether or not the developer wants to give the game to Big Fish. Of late I have been seeing some indie Steam games arrive on Big Fish, including Leaves: The Journey as well as its sequel, among other games. But who knows if that trend will continue - I certainly don't.

I see all digital downloads as a potential future risk of losing them at some point; unfortunately it's part and parcel of the times in which we live. Ultimately it's up to the buyer to decide where they feel most comfortable buying digital downloads.

I am from the old school where all my games came in a box, and those days are loooooong gone.

Gaming Freak, you don't have to be a member of BF to buy games. I started out with membership, but found the monthly charge (whether or not I played ANY games at all) to be intrusive. The charge is nearly equal to the price of an SE game during sales! I canceled my Membership within two months, and have playing BF games for years since then.

It all depends on whether or not the developer wants to give the game to Big Fish. Of late I have been seeing some indie Steam games arrive on Big Fish, including Leaves: The Journey as well as its sequel, among other games. But who knows if that trend will continue - I certainly don't.

I see all digital downloads as a potential future risk of losing them at some point; unfortunately it's part and parcel of the times in which we live. Ultimately it's up to the buyer to decide where they feel most comfortable buying digital downloads.

I am from the old school where all my games came in a box, and those days are loooooong gone.

But Steam has a lion's share of the digital PC game market (~70%) so it is not going away any time soon. But any competing stores not named Steam are endangered. If more and more people buy from Steam and fewer and fewer buy from you, then you will go out of business eventually. In the past, BFG sold games not found on Steam. But now, even Steam is adding those games. So if I were BFG and its customers, I would be quite concerned. If it gets bought by another company, you will be treated like refugees with lesser service. Just look at GameHouse, which used to be a beautiful site like BFG. Now it looks crappy, and probably so is the service. And if no one acquires the company, the customers may face the possibility of losing all the games they bought.

Originally Posted By: Reenie

Gaming Freak, you don't have to be a member of BF to buy games. I started out with membership, but found the monthly charge (whether or not I played ANY games at all) to be intrusive. The charge is nearly equal to the price of an SE game during sales! I canceled my Membership within two months, and have playing BF games for years since then.

If you buy a lot of games, then a BFG membership is worth it, since the discounts add up. You pay $7 for a month's membership, buy two CEs for $14 + $14 to get 6 punch holes, get a free game worth $7 from the 6 punch holes, and get another game for the membership you paid for that month. So in one month, you pay $7 + 14 + 14 = $35 for 4 games that would have cost $10 + 20 + 20 + 10 = $60. That means you get 42% discount from SRP. In the long run, the savings add up. So the membership does help if you buy a lot of games. You don't have to buy them all year. Just bunch up the purchases, and use 1-2 months of membership to buy them all. If there are members-only discounts, you save even more.

The majority of my digital downloads are from Big Fish and from GOG. My son has some games from Steam. I make backups of my games whenever I can - I figure that is at least some insurance protection for the future.

I understand what you are saying, though, and as I said, it is up to each individual user in terms of what they feel comfortable with.

The majority of my digital downloads are from Big Fish and from GOG. My son has some games from Steam. I make backups of my games whenever I can - I figure that is at least some insurance protection for the future.

I understand what you are saying, though, and as I said, it is up to each individual user in terms of what they feel comfortable with.

If you buy from GOG, you are absolutely safe, because those don't have DRM at all, and you don't need GOG to be in business to play them. DRM is the thing that makes customers nervous, and that's why some feel strongly about them. Many games that used to be have DRM end up being sold on GOG without it. And many people make sure they only buy them when that happens.

I have noticed that some older BFG games don't have DRM. If you run the game's executable file directly, you can play them. I recently bought "Princess Isabella: A Witch's Curse" on Steam, and it can also be played by running the executable file without using the Steam software. I would say BFG games made before 2006 have a good chance of not having DRM.

The creators of GOG has said many times DRM hurts the customers and the industry. They even went so far as to say those who downloaded pirated games were "misunderstood customers," meaning that they believed that if there weren't DRM, there would be a whole lot more people buying games legitimately. I may have to agree.